Washing clothes at 20 degrees

[smashthesigns]

Should I change to washing our clothes at 20? Looking to save some money. I normally wash everything at 30 on a half wash (still 2 hours on our machine), but am wondering if it would be better to drop to 20. None of us are that grotty so I'm not worried about stains. My mum thinks I'm mad and everything will come out dirty, but then she washes everything at 60 and doesn't seem to be worried about her electricity bill.

Also if anyone does this what detergent do they use? Do some not work at low temperatures?

@Porridgeislife

Australians wash their clothes in cold water too. The obsession with 40/60 degrees is a UK quirk. Australia/US/Japan/Europeans aren’t wearing dirty clothes or getting sick from germs in their laundry.

Really? I alive in Australia and definitely don't wash in cold water! Mind you I do have a German washing machine (and I don't like top loaders!)

live not alive

I end up with washing powder marks on darks even at 30°.
I don't use laundry liquid because particularly at low temperatures the sticky film left allows bacteria and makes the machine stinky.
My plan is to wash things less.

@TheWestIsTheBest
There was another thread yesterday telling us that somebody's sister's second cousin's brother-in-law in Italy only washed cold, that washing machines in Italy are only ever plumbed in to wash on cold and bla bla... it's often said about Australia too.

I'm in Italy and might go as low as 30. But bedding, towels, underwear, jeans etc are done on 60. The rest on 40 unless very delicate. I don't know anyone who washes on cold but the above random Italian's MNer friend seems to be speaking for a nation.

There was a documentary a while back showing how much bacteria remains on clothing washed at low temperatures and in the case of underwear etc it was more than when it went in. I'm no clean freak (trust me- life's too short) but minging pants is a step too far even for me. The plumber told me earlier this year that he gets more call outs for gunked up machines due to washing on colder temps especially with liquid.

@Hellocatshome

Do quicker cycles not usually use MORE electric?

No

Mine uses a lot more water but a lot less electricity so depends on the pricing k suppose. I think water is cheaper.

Im shocked at the amount of people using laundry cleansers....what a con and a waste of money.

@smashthesigns

Should I change to washing our clothes at 20? Looking to save some money. I normally wash everything at 30 on a half wash (still 2 hours on our machine), but am wondering if it would be better to drop to 20. None of us are that grotty so I'm not worried about stains. My mum thinks I'm mad and everything will come out dirty, but then she washes everything at 60 and doesn't seem to be worried about her electricity bill.

Also if anyone does this what detergent do they use? Do some not work at low temperatures?

personally no i wash everything at a min of 40 degrees unless its a knitted item or the instructions say so. its not just about the amount of power it uses, but also keeping your machine working correctly, such as people being conned into using the likes of dettol washing machine stuff, instead of just putting the clothes on the correct temp and using the boil wash at least twice a month, which stops the build up inside the machine too. so yes im tending to agree with your mum on this.

My new washing machine (which I hate) didn't have a temperature select. It has an "eco 40-60" setting rich is apparently for clothes such day either 40 or 60 on the label, but there is no setting for one etc at 30 on the label, which is most clothes these days!

Anyway, abiding to the manual the eco setting measures the weight and changes the temperature accordingly. 23 degrees for 2kg, 34 degrees for 4kg and 40 degrees for 8kg. Why i can't chose to use 30 degrees for an 8kg wash if beyond me

DockOTheBay why did you buy the machine?

When I buy a machine I scour the details, a quick cold wash is a must for me- specifications, reviews and programs are all available online.
Easy to check the function of a machine before you buy it.

I got a new machine yesterday. On reading the booklet I found the Eco40-60 wash uses the second most electricity and second most water of all the washes. And takes almost 3 hours.
I can't see what's Eco about that.
So I'll stick to the 40degree wash.

@speakout

DockOTheBay why did you buy the machine?

When I buy a machine I scour the details, a quick cold wash is a must for me- specifications, reviews and programs are all available online.
Easy to check the function of a machine before you buy it.

@speakout My husband went to buy it. Ours broke down and we needed one urgently. Also we are very limited for choice as the space we have for our washing machine is smaller than the normal space (59-point-something vs. 60cm) and we had a small budget.

My husband went to buy it.

Ok- that's your answer then.

DockOTheBay maybe your OH bought the machine with features that he considers important when doing laundry- did he know of your requirements?
MY OH doesn't use our washing machine so has no say in choice.

How long is a cycle supposed to be? Can it be too short?

I wash everything at 40 degrees. 51 minutes.

Bedding, towels at 60 degrees. 1 hour 15.

Those are the only 2 cycles I use.

Does anyone know any good eco laundry stuff that works at low temperatures? I use Ariel at low temp but I also like to use eco laundry liquid that I refill to cut down on plastic but it's really not effective at anything under 40 degrees.

Unless there's been a bug in the house I am quite happy to wash at low temperatures - clothes don't need to be sanitised, and I don't think I have ever become sick from unclean clothes!

I don’t understand all the references to getting rid of bacteria on the clothes either. If someone in the house has an infection of some sort then fair enough but bacteria are literally everywhere: on surfaces, in the air, covering your skin.. if you’re tumble drying or ironing the clothes that will get them up to a much hotter temperature, if it’s a sunny day and you line dry the UV light will reduce bacteria.
I think my eco liquid is fine at 30, it’s usually soap based so shouldn’t be affected by temperature as much as bio. You’re replying more on physical removal of the dirt though so might need a slightly longer/ more intense cycle?

Surely by buying fancier detergents and laundry additives, you're wiping out any savings made by doing a cold wash. Plus, in the case of the additives like sports wash, flushing more stuff into the water course.

@speakout

DockOTheBay why did you buy the machine?

When I buy a machine I scour the details, a quick cold wash is a must for me- specifications, reviews and programs are all available online.
Easy to check the function of a machine before you buy it.

How often do you buy a machine? I’ve only ever done it twice. Our current one has lasted well over 12 years!

DockOTheBay I am quite old! I have bought several machines- some I have left behind in houses that I have sold- so probably bought 6 or 7 in my lifetime.

We did a 30 degree wash a few weeks ago for DHs clothes as he was convinced I was ruining his clothes at 40. Nothing came out clean and all had to put back in again. I wash everything at at least 40. Towels and sheets 60.

This is embarrassing but my washing machine has a button that says ‘speed/eco’ so for ages thought they were the same thing and would put my washes on that cycle. It was much quicker than normal and I thought that made sense. Quicker = less electricity, right?

Then I read a thread here and realised they were actually two different settings (you press the button once for speed and twice for eco) and that the eco setting actually takes waaaay longer. I read up on it a bit and it’s counter-intuitive but the quick washes do indeed actually use more electricity!

@DockOTheBay

My new washing machine (which I hate) didn't have a temperature select. It has an "eco 40-60" setting rich is apparently for clothes such day either 40 or 60 on the label, but there is no setting for one etc at 30 on the label, which is most clothes these days!

Anyway, abiding to the manual the eco setting measures the weight and changes the temperature accordingly. 23 degrees for 2kg, 34 degrees for 4kg and 40 degrees for 8kg. Why i can't chose to use 30 degrees for an 8kg wash if beyond me

what make of machine do you have? i cant for the life of me understand why a 2 kg load would be washed at 23 degrees when a 4 kg at 40 degrees, so say i hd a couple of tea towels one day so washed them on the 2 kg setting they are done at 23 degrees? and then the next lot of tea towels would be done at 4 kgs and 40 degrees? doesnt make any sense at all as its the same fabric and same type of dirt, i know which tea towels i would rather use

tea towels only used for an example#

@silentpool

Everything gets washed at 30c, with a detergent suitable for a cold wash and some laundry sanitiser. If it's heavily soiled, it's pre-soaked or stain treated. It all gets hung out to dry. Nothing is pongy and my health is robust and my electricity bill is low.

Why detergent AND laundry sanitiser? Detergent is a "sanitiser", that's the whole point of detergent.

I wash most things at 40. Except delicate stuff.

@Hellocatshome

Do quicker cycles not usually use MORE electric?

No

I read this once and it makes sense. The machine uses more energy to get up to temperature in a shorter amount of time. I always used to use quick cycles but have started using longer eco cycles now and have noticed a bit of a difference to our electricity usage.